Nessel joins the coalition urging Congress to pass the Affordable Care Act

NEWS RELEASE
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF MICHIGAN, DANA NESSEL
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Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel this week joined a coalition of 21 attorneys general in urging Congress to pass the Family Building Access Act, federal legislation to guarantee the right to access assisted reproductive technology (ART) such as in vitro fertilization (IVF) throughout the country. . ART has provided thousands of people in a variety of situations with the opportunity to grow their families, including cancer survivors, same-sex couples, those experiencing infertility or those choosing to be single parents. However, the high cost of procedures and the lack of insurance coverage for ART prevent many from accessing these essential services.

In the wake of a recent Alabama Supreme Court decision that endangered essential reproductive health services by classifying frozen embryos used during IVF as persons, the coalition of attorneys general is advocating for strong federal protections such as the Act of access to family building, to expand access to ART and protect patients’ rights to make their own decisions about reproductive health care.

“Assaults on Americans’ Bodily Autonomy Since the Disaster Dobbs The decision has escalated to a frightening degree, and now access to IVF and other forms of assisted reproduction are under threat,” Nessel said. “The Access to Family Building Act will help protect reproductive rights and help families to access assisted reproduction technology, regardless of their financial circumstances. There is a clear and urgent need for federal protections to safeguard these essential services and defend people’s rights to make their own family planning decisions. I stand with my fellow attorneys general in urging Congress to pass this essential legislation.”

The recent decision by the Alabama Supreme Court, which determined that embryos should be considered “extrauterine children” and that the destruction of embryos created through IVF is subject to the Wrongful Death of a Child Act the state, jeopardized the practice of IVF in Alabama. Clinics across the state suspended their services immediately following this decision, devastating patients who were in the midst of IVF treatment. This decision threatens ART services across the country and the right of families to make their own reproductive health decisions.

In the letter sent to congressional leadership of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Health, AG Nessel and the coalition of attorneys general urge Congress to take proactive measures to protect ART Services. ART has enabled thousands of people to build a family. Almost two percent of all babies born in the US each year are conceived through ART. However, the cost of ART services can be prohibitive and insurance policy definitions of “infertility” can be limiting, especially for LGBTQ+ couples.

The average cost of ART services in the US, such as IVF, is approximately $20,000 per cycle, but this number can increase depending on a patient’s medical protocols or if a patient undergoes multiple cycles. Currently, only 21 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws related to insurance coverage, but the terms vary from state to state. Insurance policies can also prevent patient access through different definitions of infertility or requirements that not all patients meet. The Family Building Access Act would make ART services more accessible to families of all types, guaranteeing patients the right to ART without prohibitions, unreasonable limitations or interference, encouraging providers of health insurance to cover these services and ensuring that patients have the right to make their own determinations and decisions about their reproductive genetic materials.

ART is critical to families across the country, but barriers that prevent many from accessing these services persist. As the attorney general’s coalition argues in its letter to congressional leaders, these services are crucial and, in light of the recent Alabama Supreme Court decision, need protection.

AG Nessel is joined in sending this letter to Congress by the Attorneys General of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York , North. Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin.

A copy of the letter can be accessed here (PDF).

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